12Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set out to come to you, but now, see, it is dry and moldy;
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Joshua.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 9:12:
Kupsabiny: “You just look at this food. It was warm we came with it but it has become stale and has gone bad.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “We took bread that was hot on the day we left home to come to meet you. But look! Today this bread is dry and moldy. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Look-(at) our (excl.) bread, this (was) still hot when we (excl.) left, but now (it is) already hard and already crumbly.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Look at our bread. It was fresh and warm from having been baked on the day that we left our area, but now it is dry and moldy.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Look at our bread translates “Here is our bread” (Revised Standard Version), a Hebraism for calling attention to the bread.
The second sentence of verse 12 (When we left home … it was still warm) may be inverted and made shorter, since and started out to meet you was mentioned in the previous verse: “It was still warm when we left home with it.”
But look translates a Hebraism (Revised Standard Version “behold”) used as an attention getter. It is possible to translate accurately without using a word to express it in the text. In fact, for some languages But look! Now … may result in overemphasis, which would have negative effects.
Similarly, verse 13 may be translated, “The same is true of these wineskins. When we filled them they were new, but now they are torn….”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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